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Don't own Transformers!


Chapter 11

Skyfire had been a little surprised when he had received the message from Wheeljack to meet at Ratchet's office. He wasn't sure what it was that the scientist wanted to talk to him about. As far as Skyfire knew, Wheeljack had been staying with Ratchet throughout the day to keep an eye on him while Optimus was on duty.

Skyfire had been in the middle of trying to decode the file found in Ratchet's processors when he had received the message. He still wasn't having much luck on getting the file decoded, so he figured that he might simply have to ask Ratchet what was in the file and ask him to give him all of the codes to get inside the file.

Skyfire headed out of the medbay where he had been working on the file and headed toward Ratchet's office, which wasn't that far from medbay.

Ratchet had made sure that his office was right at the medbay so that if someone needed his help when they were injured, he would be right there close.

Skyfire entered the office.

Even while they thought that Ratchet was dead, none of the mechs on the base could find it in their sparks to enter the office and remove everything in it. It just wasn't in them at the time. Ratchet's office had been a sanctuary for him, and to enter it was like sacrilege to them. It just hadn't seemed right at the time.

In retrospect, Skyfire realized that as long as they didn't touch the office, it was as if Ratchet was still with them, still alive. They could have the fictional belief that the medic was still with them in some way.

Now, it seemed that it was a good thing that nothing in Ratchet's office had been touched. Since the medic was alive and back at the base, he would have been shouting at every last one of them for daring to touch anything in his office.

Skyfire merely walked into the office and sat down in one of the chairs across from the desk. He would merely have to wait and see what it was that Wheeljack wanted to speak with him about. He still hadn't figured out why they were meeting in Ratchet's office.


Ratchet and Wheeljack were making their way toward Ratchet's office.

It felt nice for Ratchet to be out of his quarters. He might not mind staying in his quarters, but he was not a mech to be cooped up all the time in one room. He had to get out and see another room. Going to his office seemed like the best thing at the moment. He might not be allowed to do anything at the moment, but he could at least get out and walk around. That alone was a great relief to the medic.

"So, glad to be back home?" Wheeljack asked.

"You know I am. I never thought that I'd be so glad to see this base as I was when I came to." Ratchet shook his head. "Being a Decepticon prisoner left much to be desired."

"I imagine. And just so you know, we didn't touch anything in your office. It's all as you left it." Wheeljack assured him.

"Good." Ratchet kept a few of his tools in his office, which meant that he would have access to a wrench if Wheeljack pissed him off anymore.

"Hey, doc!"

Ratchet and Wheeljack had expected that any Autobot they came across was going to want to talk to Ratchet, so the two stopped and turned to face the Autobot who had called out to them.

Smokescreen walked up to them. "You look a lot better than you did last time I saw you."

"I'm sure I do, Smokescreen." Ratchet replied.

"Glad to have you back. It'll be nice to have an actually medic being the one tending to us instead of a scientist. 'Jack here sure doesn't have your gentle touch." Smokescreen smirked at that thought.

One thing that every mech on the base knew was that Ratchet wasn't known for being gentle. Only in severely injured cases did he make sure to gentle his touch. Ratchet preferred to make sure that any kind of repair was done right and efficiently instead of gently.

Ratchet scowled at him. "Just remember, Smokescreen, I'll be back in charge of medbay before you know it, and I will happily use my gentle touch on you the next time you decide to get yourself thrashed by Ironhide or the Decepticons, whichever happens to inflict the damage."

Smokescreen laughed nervously. He was glad to hear that kind of remark from the doctor because it meant that Ratchet was pretty much himself. He was also rather worried about the next time he needed repairs once Ratchet was back in charge of medbay. "Anyway, glad to see you up and about."

"Come on. We were going to your office, Ratch." Wheeljack reminded him.

"Yeah. Sure." Ratchet replied.

"Oh, and I hear congratulations are in order." Smokescreen added.

That brought a smile to his face. "Yes. Thank you, Smokescreen." Ratchet was glad to hear such from a fellow Autobot.

Ratchet and Wheeljack continued on their way to Ratchet's office.

"You do realize that you're going to be hearing similar conversation from every Autobot that we come across." Wheeljack told him.

"Yeah. I figured as much." Ratchet replied.


Skyfire had been waiting in Ratchet's office for a while, and he was starting to wonder if Wheeljack had changed his mind about them meeting. He was close to simply sending him a message and asking him if they were still meeting.

A few moments later, Ratchet and Wheeljack appeared in the doorway.

Skyfire was surprised. "Ratchet, it is good to see you up and about." He was happy to see that the medic was doing so much better. He not only looked better, but his scanners indicated that he had regained some of his strength as well.

"I'm doing fine, Skyfire. Thank you for your concern." Ratchet told him before he walked around his desk and sat down in the chair.

Skyfire glanced back at Wheeljack. "So, why was it that you wanted to see me?" With Ratchet there as well, Skyfire understood why it was they were meeting in Ratchet's office.

Ratchet looked at his friend. "You didn't bother letting him know why we were meeting."

"Why? He didn't even mention that you were going to be here as well, Ratchet. All he told me was to meet here." Skyfire stated.

Wheeljack rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, the sound of grating metal filling the room. "Yeah. I might have forgotten to mention those things."

Ratchet shook his head. "As long as I am forbidden from entering my infirmary until my doctor, and I use that term lightly, decrees me fit enough to return to duty, I figured that I might as well start your education on delivering a sparkling."

"Ah. Yes. That is something that needs to be addressed immediately." Skyfire understood that he and Wheeljack were the only ones on the base who would be able to do something like that when the time came. He just needed to be told what to do, and he would do it.

Wheeljack walked over and sat down in the other chair in the room. "Okay, Teach. Get to teaching."

"All right. Have you two at least read all that material I gave you?" Ratchet asked.

Wheeljack nodded.

"I just got a few of them this morning, but I'll read them soon." Skyfire assured him.

"Okay. You've got the basics at least. I'll give you a more in-depth explanation as well as one from experience in this. I'll also let you know of any of the number of things that could happen. Of course, it doesn't mean that any of it will happen. Just possibilities." Ratchet told them.

The two nodded.

Ratchet then started his lesson.


Optimus, Jazz, and Prowl were all on the command deck, talking about the possibility of a Decepticon attack.

"I'd say that a Decepticon attack is not a possibility. I'd say that it's inevitable. Megatron has to be seriously pissed off at the fact that we were able to get into his base without being detected along with the fact that we were able to get Ratchet out without any of the Decepticons even managing to slow us down. He's going to take it personally, and he's going to make sure that we pay for it." Prowl told them.

"Yes. I am aware of that, Prowl. We need to be prepared. I'm not sure if the attack will come here or if it will come somewhere else." Optimus stated.

"We'll be ready regardless, Prime." Jazz replied.

Prowl raised a hand to his chin. "What worries me is that Megatron might pull something like he did when he managed to capture Ratchet. An attack here and an attack somewhere else."

Optimus hadn't considered that possibility, but with what happened before, it was certainly a possibility. He didn't want that to happen again because of how devastating the results were the last time.

"Well, we've added in extra security measures along with external defenses. It won't be easy for them to get in now." Jazz stated.

"True. It might not be enough, though. We can't forget how crafty Megatron can be." Prowl pointed out.

The three continued to talk about the Decepticon attack.

Smokescreen came out onto the command deck to start his duties. He saw his Prime talking with the other two and decided not to interrupt. He simply went about his duties.

Mirage, who came in just after Smokescreen, didn't do that. "Glad to see Ratchet's up and about, Prime."

All optics turned to him.

"He is?" Jazz asked. He was glad to hear that the medic was back on his feet already.

"Yeah. Just saw him and 'Jack. Think they were heading over to Ratchet's office." Mirage answered.

"Well, you know Ratchet. He's not staying cooped up in his quarters all the time, even if it's for his own health. He's going to be out somewhere, even if it's just to his office." Prowl said.

"Indeed. I had figured that Ratchet was going to be getting out of the room today." Optimus stated. He knew that as long as Wheeljack was close by, Ratchet wasn't going to do anything that would overexert himself. Skyfire was probably with them as well, which mean that there was even less of a chance of Ratchet doing anything too strenuous.

"The doc's already getting back to normal. Already threatened me for the next time I need him to repair me." Smokescreen told them since the conversation had turned to Ratchet.

"Well, sounds like he's back to normal." Prowl remarked.

"Normal? Nah. Doc'll be normal when he's shouting so loud he puts more cracks in the base." Mirage stated.

The crew on the command deck laughed at that. They all knew that it was true. Ratchet shouting meant that everything was back to normal.

"I wonder if his aim with a wrench is going to be off at all." Jazz mused.

"Don't know? Go piss him off and find out." Smokescreen suggested.

"I don't think so. Him carrying and all he's got to be even moodier than normal. He might actually aim to kill with the wrench, and I'd very much like to live." Jazz replied.

Optimus smiled behind his mask. There was truth to that. And he was certainly not going to be the one that made Ratchet angry first and find out. He planned to live to see his sparkling delivered.


Ratchet finished his hour-long lecture. He stopped and looked at the two scientists.

Any other mech would have been downright horrified by the thought of the very detailed lecture Ratchet had given them about the process of delivering a sparkling, what was to be expected to happen during the process, and what could happen and what possible adjustments might need to be made.

"Interesting. I had a very general idea of how this went, but I've never really bothered to pay so much attention to it before. This is going to be very interesting. Never really thought that I would witness a sparkling being delivered." Wheeljack mused.

Ratchet glared heatedly at Wheeljack. "Could you stop looking at this as an educational experience and remember that both the sparkling's life as well as my own are at stake here. I have seen sparklings and mechs die as a result of this. I would like for you to remember that when the time comes." He already had some reservations about Wheeljack being one of the ones that were going to be delivering the sparkling. This wasn't helping.

"Sorry. You know how I am. Always curious." Wheeljack told him.

That didn't seem to calm Ratchet in the slightest.

"Don't worry, Ratchet. I can assure you that my focus will be entirely on you and the sparkling. At least one of us will have that kind of focus." Skyfire assured him.

Ratchet nodded. He was glad that one of them had the appropriate amount of focus to take care of the two of them.

"Ah, come on. You know that I'm dependable. I'm not going to be distracted at all." Wheeljack assured him.

"I would hope so. I'm going to be in so much pain at the time that I am not going to be able to help you at all." Ratchet replied.

Skyfire had heard stories about mechs in labor being in extreme amounts of pain. He had also heard that mechs in labor could be very mean. He couldn't help but wonder how that would play out with Ratchet. With Ratchet's temper, this was going to be an interesting experience.

"All right. I think I've told you everything that I know. Is there anything else that you can think to ask me?" Ratchet asked.

"Yeah. How do we know when you're in labor?" Wheeljack asked.

"Trust me. I'll know when I'm in labor. I'll be shouting for you two from wherever I am in the base." Ratchet replied.

"At least we know that we're going to be able to hear you." Wheeljack stated.

Ratchet took a deep breath. "However, the sac that the sparkling is in will start to break when it's time for the sparkling to come. Blue fluid will be leaking from my chest at the time. That's the physical sign of a mech in labor."

"There's another sign?" Skyfire asked.

"Yes. The pain wracking my whole body, which I'll feel immediately."

"With the possibility of it happening at any time, do you think that someone should be with you at all times?" Skyfire asked.

Ratchet knew that Skyfire had a point. Back on Cybertron, when a mech was nearing the end of carrying, the mate was normally close by the carrying mech at all times just in case the mech went into labor and needed to get to the medical facility quickly. "That is probably not a bad idea, Skyfire. It would probably be safer. I'd say for the last week to week and a half it would be safer if someone was close by at all times. Of course, the comm link can always be used."

"Or your voice." Wheeljack muttered.

Ratchet glared at the mech.

"The truth." Wheeljack reminded him.

Wheeljack was seriously pissing Ratchet off, and that was not a good thing given the fact that Ratchet was a bit moodier since he was carrying.

Skyfire was becoming nervously with how Wheeljack was getting. "Well, as long as we're this close to the infirmary, it might not be a bad idea to go and give you a thorough look over. Just to see how you're healing and how the sparkling is doing."

Ratchet figured that that wasn't such a bad idea. "All right." He stood up.

The other two did as well, and all three headed for the infirmary.

"Just remember that you are not staying in here once we're done. You're on medical leave until I say otherwise." Wheeljack told him.

Ratchet rolled his optics. "So you have told me a thousand times."

"Hey. We all know you, Ratch, and we know that you would go against what we have told you. If we left you alone in here, you'd be going through and seeing what you had in the infirmary and what you didn't have. And if one of the others came in here with an injury, you would be helping them." Wheeljack told him.

"All right already. I get it." Ratchet told him. Granted, Ratchet would probably argue over being kept out of his infirmary before too long.

Skyfire then set about to check over all of Ratchet's systems as well as the sparkling.

Wheeljack just stood back. He decided that his life was on the line with how he'd been pissing Ratchet off that day.

"So, how were you able to handle being the medic while I was gone?" Ratchet asked.

"Between Skyfire and me, we managed pretty well. Granted, we're not you, and we're certainly not as fast or efficient as you are. We were able to keep everyone repaired and functioning. Luckily for us, there were no life threatening injuries that we had to deal with. That's still your specialty, and I'll happily hand the infirmary back over to you once you're back on your feet." Wheeljack answered.

Ratchet nodded.

"I have to admit that the base was a bit gloomy while you were gone. If it wasn't for the Twins' antics, I'm not sure that we would have had any humor in the base." Skyfire remarked.

Ratchet raised an eyebrow. "Gloomy? That's a word that I never thought I'd associate with this base. Jazz's love of music has always been a source of constant irritation for all of us."

"Well, there wasn't much of it, Ratchet. Thinking you were gone really was a blow to the base. You're more important to all of us than you realize on a personal level. You're more than just the medic." Wheeljack stated.

"I know. I'm normally the one that keeps Teletraan 1 functional when something goes wrong. Or anything else that goes wrong that doesn't involve battle." Ratchet stated.

"More than that, you were a confidante to us all. If we told you something that they didn't want anyone else to know, no one else knew. Not even Optimus. Not to mention the fact that you kept the Twins somewhat in line. Primus knows that we all would have worked ourselves into stasis without you on our afts making sure we all got the proper amount of recharge." Skyfire explained.

"While spectacularly ignoring your own recharge levels." Wheeljack glared at him. "You hvae been known to recharge on your office before."

"Yes. I know." Ratchet replied. He knew that he was guilty of that. Although the truth was that it was normally after long hours tending to injuries in the infirmary that he fell into recharge in his office, which normally meant that he just didn't have the strength to make his back to his quarters and figured it wouldn't hurt to simply recharge in his office. Of course, there were the times that he knew his lover had found him recharging in his office and carried him back to his quarters. But there was no way that Ratchet was ever going to tell Wheeljack that.

"At least we don't have to worry about that for a while." Skyfire had finished his exanimation. "You're recovering faster than we had expected you to. Not that that's a bad thing. Sparkling's doing fine, too."

"I thought it probably was. Feel it moving all the time." Ratchet told them.

"Really? I haven't heard anything." Wheeljack murmured.

"That's because you can only hear it when the sparkling hits against my chest. It doesn't always hit my chest. I can feel it constantly, though." Ratchet replied.

"Oh." Wheeljack replied.

Skyfire shook his head. "In any case, you're doing just fine. However, I would suggest you returning to your quarters and getting some rest. Don't need you to get too exhausted." Skyfire told him.

"I suppose so. I am actually tired." Ratchet admitted.

"You are?" Wheeljack asked.

"Yes, I am. Carrying makes a mech more tired, 'Jack. You know that." Ratchet told him.

"Oh, yeah." Wheeljack had actually forgotten that little detail.

A moment later, Sideswipe came stumbling in.

The three mechs looked at him in shock.

Sideswipe's paint was scratched badly along with a few exposed wires on his arm.

"What happened?" Wheeljack asked.

"Tripped into my own prank." Sideswipe answered.

"It was bound to happen." Ratchet muttered.

"Oh. Hey, Ratchet. How ya doin'?" Sideswipe asked.

"I'm fine, Sideswipe. Better than you, in fact." Ratchet stood up. "I'd suggest you get to work. Looks to me like you're going to have to replace some wires."

"Yeah. Go on." Wheeljack told him.

Ratchet then left the infirmary.

"Are you-" Skyfire started.

"He'll be fine. Not like he's going to try to sneak to do work considering the fact that we're in the infirmary." Wheeljack replied, starting to look over Sideswipe.


Ratchet made his way through the halls back toward his quarters. He knew that he probably wouldn't be able to slip into recharge easily with Optimus not there, but he could at least take it easy. He would never admit it, but he was wore out, and he needed the time to get some rest.

"Hey, Ratchet!"

Ratchet stopped and turned to find that Bumblebee was heading toward him. Ratchet smiled at the yellow mech. "Hello, Bumblebee. It's good to see you again."

"Glad to see you up and about. I'd heard that you were getting better." Bumblebee told him.

"Yes. I'm feeling a lot better now." Ratchet replied. He then realized something. "Bumblebee, were you or Wheeljack severely injured in that attack?"

Bumblebee had no trouble figuring out what he meant. "Not really. It's not like we were at death's door."

"That's good." Ratchet hadn't really considered asking Wheeljack how they were. His thoughts hadn't been all that centered on much else except for Optimus, the sparkling, and what he went through.

"We're all glad to have you back, though. Things weren't the same without you." Bumblebee told him.

The two were now walking as Ratchet made his way back to his quarters although Ratchet had slowed his pace somewhat.

"So I've heard. I'm rather surprised that so many were affected by this." Ratchet remarked.

"Ah, come on, Ratchet. We all care abut you here. I mean, sure, you're temperamental and spend more time yelling at us than anything, but we all know you care. And you mean a lot to every one of us." Bumblebee told him.

"I appreciate that."

"Optimus has been a lot better since you got back, too. He was pretty upset by it. He never really talked to anyone unless spoken to or giving orders." Bumblebee added.

Ratchet had no doubt that Optimus was pulling his pain inward and keeping it bottled up. He decided that he needed to talk to him about his own emotions while he was gone. He wasn't the only one who needed to get that out in the open.

"Of course, when Prime made the announcement that we were going to break into the Decepticon base to get revenge, everyone perked up at that thought." Bumblebee continued.

Ratchet stopped walking at that. Surely he had heard Bumblebee wrong. Surely Optimus had not planned out a revenge mission just to get revenge against the Decepticons for killing him. Or what they thought was them killing him. Surely Optimus wasn't that foolish. "Revenge?"

"Yeah." Bumblebee was oblivious to the fact that he had just told Ratchet something Optimus hadn't. "We were angry. At first, Prime was against it, but he changed his mind. Had Wheeljack build a device that got us in. We destroyed Megatron's energon supply while we there. Prime faced Megatron himself. Think he showed him up, too. Then we found out that you were alive, so we abandoned that to find you. We did and then we got you back here."

"I see." Ratchet felt his circuits start to heat up. He was getting rather angry, and the majority of that anger was targeted at his soon-to-be dead lover. "Bumblebee, do you know where Optimus is right now?"

"In his office. I think there was something that he and Prowl needed to talk about." Bumblebee replied.

"All right."

"Did you need to see him? I'm sure he won't mind." Bumblebee looked up at the medic.

Ratchet didn't let Bumblebee see how angry he was. No need in tipping Optimus off. "No. It's not important. It can wait for when his shifts ends."

"Okay."

The two arrived at Ratchet's quarters.

"I'll be getting some rest now." Ratchet told him.

"All right. See you later, and congratulations on the sparkling."

"Thank you."

Bumblebee then walked off.

Ratchet walked into his quarters and released an angry vent of air. Oh, he and Optimus were going to have a long talk when the red and blue mech got his aft back to their quarters. He was in so much slag.


Optimus's shift had ended, so he had set out to straighten up everything that was on his desk. He would read the rest of the reports later. He knew that there wasn't any work he had on the desk that couldn't wait until later to take care of.

Optimus really just wanted to get back to his quarters and see Ratchet. He was glad to know that Ratchet had gotten out of their quarters for a while. He knew that a few of the other Autobots had seen him, and he knew that they had been relieved to see the medic out and about. Wheeljack had also contacted him to let him know that they had done a check-up on Ratchet. It made Optimus very happy to hear that Ratchet was recovering a bit faster than they had originally anticipated he would. Optimus was also glad to hear that the sparkling was doing just fine as well.

Optimus left his office and headed back to his quarters. He was looking forward to a nice evening of simply relaxing, baring a Decepticon attack.

Optimus entered his quarters. He looked around the room with a smile on his face. That smile soon faded when he saw Ratchet.

Ratchet was sitting on the berth facing the door. He had his arms crossed over his chest with an angered look on his face. In fact, there was so much heated rage in that expression that Optimus was very certain that the look could kill.

Optimus quickly scanned his processors to see if there was anything that he had done to upset his bonded, but he could not come up with anything he might have done to earn Ratchet's wrath.

"Revenge! You went on a revenge mission!" The angered snarl spoke volumes.

Oh, scrap! He knew about it all. Which meant that Optimus was probably going to be meeting Primus very soon.

"Are you out of your fraggin' processors, Orion! You know good and well that I asked you to never do something like that! You knew how I felt about it! And what do you do? You go and do the exact thing that I asked you not to do! Revenge never solves anything!" Ratchet stood up, his glare never leaving Optimus. "You could have been killed! Or any of the other Autobots who were there could have been killed! Autobots that would be needed to continue this war! Frag, you are needed to continue this war! You are the last Prime, and a Prime is needed to lead! You are needed!" Ratchet snarled.

"Ratchet, I-" Optimus started.

"Don't you even try to explain this one, Orion! There is no excuse for it! You have always spoke of revenge being wrong, but you did that anyway!" Ratchet snapped. He was very pissed at his lover at the moment.

Optimus knew that Ratchet was right. He knew that what they had done was wrong. He had always known it, but it had been so hard without Ratchet.

Ratchet continued to glare at Optimus.

Optimus sighed. "You're right, Ratchet. I know you are. I knew then."

"Then why, Orion? Why would you do something like this?" Ratchet asked. Some of the heat had left the medic's voice.

"It was hard when I thought you were dead, Ratchet. It was a like a part of myself had died as well. I was so angry with everything, Megatron most of all. In a moment of anger, revenge was all I wanted, and once I set the plans into motion, there was no turning back. It was what I wanted, what I needed at the time. What we all needed." Optimus told him.

Ratchet rubbed his helm. "Orion, I can understand you were hurt, but revenge goes against everything you believe in. Why do something that goes against your principles?"

Optimus gave him a bitter smile. "The first night after I thought that you were dead that I recharged well was when Wheeljack agreed to let you come back here to our quarters. I hadn't rested well otherwise. I can't recharge without you, and that happened. Nothing in my life held much meaning once I lost you. All I knew was pain and anger. It seemed to be on my every processor. It was like that was the only thing that was going to make this easier."

Ratchet sighed before he sat back down.

Optimus walked over before he knelt down in front of Ratchet. He took one of Ratchet's hands in his own. "I am sorry that I broke my promise to you, Ratchet. I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. But I don't regret making that decision."

Ratchet looked up sharply.

Optimus ignored the look and continue. "We never knew you were alive and their captive, Ratchet." He was speaking quietly. "When we went, we had no idea you were there. We went to get revenge for what we thought was your death. While we were there facing the Decepticons, Wheeljack figured out that you were alive and in the Decepticon base. Once we knew that, we forgot about revenge and started trying to find you. I say that I don't regret that decision because if I hadn't made that decision, we would have never found you, and you might not be here now. I can't regret a choice that ultimately led to us finding and saving you, Ratchet. I would make the same choice again if I had to."

Ratchet was quiet. "Orion, the fact that going is what saved me and our sparkling is the only thing keeping me from going to the infirmary, getting a wrench, and taking it to your head. It's the only reason I'm restraining myself." Ratchet told him.

Optimus nodded. He wasn't surprised by that.

Ratchet sighed. "But I will admit that I was praying that you'd break that promise solely because that was the only chance that the sparkling would have to survive."

Optimus was surprised by that. He had thought that nothing could ever make Ratchet change his mind. Obviously, he had been wrong.

"Don't think that I'm not upset, but I did want that only for that reason." Ratchet vented air. "I knew what the chances of my survival were. That day, I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't have survived much longer. But if I had, I had no way to know what would end up happening to our sparkling, and that scared me enough to want you to chance revenge just to save us." Ratchet's glare was back. "But don't think for a second that I won't deactivate you if you ever pull something like this again."

Optimus nodded. "I hope that I never have to be put into a situation where I might make a choice like that again."

"As do I." Ratchet vented air again. "Optimus, do you know why I asked you to never seek revenge on my behalf if I were ever killed?"

Optimus had an idea. "I think so."

"It's because I didn't want you to die as well. That's always my fear when you go out fighting against Megatron. That you won't come back. There have been a few times that I have thought that you weren't going to come back. The idea of living without you has always scared me. But I always have faith that you will come back because I know that you want to come back to me. I didn't want you to seek revenge because I do know you, and you wouldn't have that same drive to come back." Ratchet told him.

Optimus was surprised by this, but he didn't deny that what Ratchet said was true. He knew that there was the chance that he wouldn't come back alive when he went out to fight the Decepticons. But he always fought hard to make it back because he wanted to make it back to Ratchet. He wanted to make it through these last battles because he wanted to get his revenge. But after that, would he have fought as hard to come back? He didn't know the answer to that. He had a feeling Ratchet already suspected the answer, though.

Ratchet looked at Optimus. "Don't ever so something as foolish as that again. Even if I were gone, I wouldn't want you to join me that quickly."

Optimus was starting to understand where Ratchet was coming from. If the situation was reversed, he wouldn't want Ratchet to seek revenge for the same reason. He wouldn't want Ratchet to join him that quickly.

"You wouldn't want that, either, would you?"

Ratchet's sudden question mirrored Optimus's own thoughts. Optimus had always suspected that Ratchet was a mind reader because he always seemed to know what the red and blue mech was thinking. But maybe it was just that Ratchet knew him so well.

Optimus gave him a rueful smile. "You're right, and I'm sorry I broke my promise. Just don't ask me to apologize for following through. Because it's what brought you back to me."

Ratchet vented air. "This time, I won't. Just don't think for a second that if I do go first, and you seek revenge, you're going to get the beating of a lifetime when we do see each other again."

Optimus smiled. "I wouldn't expect anything less." He then moved to sit down beside Ratchet before he wrapped his arms around the medic and pulled him close.

Ratchet leaned into the embrace.

"So, are we okay?" Optimus asked.

"Yes. Until the next time you piss me off." Ratchet answered. A hand gently went to his chassis. "Which will probably be when I'm in labor baring anything else happening."

Optimus nodded. That would be one time he didn't mind Ratchet's anger.


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